The Martonza Case
by VampireNaomi
Summary: A murder mystery set in Rubacava. One of Maximino's secretaries is shot and something important gets lost.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Grim Fandango; no money is being made and this whole thing is merely a creation of my obsessed mind.

This story takes place some time after Manny left from Rubacava.

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 1**

"Could you give this to Maximino before you leave?" Nick asked a short woman who was very lanky, even for a skeleton.

"Of course," she promised and took the papers as if they were made of gold. She shot a shy and openly admiring glance at Nick, but it made no difference to him. It didn't even sooth his self-esteem because having an ugly woman like Margarita admire him was worth nothing.

He had never understood why Maximino wanted to have such a terrible looking secretary. Nick thought that secretaries' main job was to look good.

He turned on his heels and left without saying anything else.

It felt a bit scary to leave such important papers to Margarita. It was the most important contract of the year, and the papers definitely had to be on Maximino's desk in a week. If something happened someone would feel rather uncomfortable, and Nick was sure it would be him.

_Well, she can't be as pathetic as she's ugly,_ he thought to himself and left the office area behind him. Maximino had built it on top of High Roller's Lounge and everyone had a nice view to Rubacava from there.

He said good night to a colleague of his who was sitting in High Roller's Lounge, completely concentrated on some papers. The cigarette in his fingers was blown out, but Nick could still smell the thick smoke.

The other lawyer didn't reply and Nick wasn't surprised. He and Alberto were constantly competing and there was no room for any kind of friendship. Nick's earlier polite words had been merely a way to annoy the man.

It was a late night and High Roller's Lounge was surprisingly quiet. Distant music played in the background and lamps were dim. Almost every table was empty, there were only three other men besides Alberto. They sat in their own group and talked about something in quiet voices. Nick heard only a word here, word there.

There was one bright lamp in the lounge and it was behind Alberto so that he could keep on reading. Nick passed the man with a few quick steps and stepped in the elevator. At some other night he might have stayed to have a drink, but this time he was so tired he wanted nothing, but sleep. It was rare from him, it was barely past midnight and usually no one in Rubacava went to sleep before morning.

The night was cold and as dark as always. The sky was covered in clouds and he couldn't see a single star. A wind blowing from the sea made people outside hope that they had extra clothes on their suits and dresses. The night was not pretty and it was a bit too quiet everywhere.

When he walked past the Blue Casket on his way home Nick almost stopped at the door. Weak music flowed from inside and he heard words as someone read a poem. It wasn't Olivia, the rhythm was different. During the time had had known the woman Nick had learned to recognise her way of speaking, even if she was surrounded by several other people.

_The Blue Casket must be almost empty as well,_ he thought as he walked past it. It would have been an excellent night to visit Olivia and escape the coldness of the night in her bed. But Nick didn't do it, and being tired was not the only reason.

Olivia had been very distant lately. The woman's touch was still as warm as before and she kept whispering the same taunting words to him, but her mind seemed to be somewhere else. Her words had an echo that almost convinced Nick of that she had another man.

A third one, at least. Nick had enjoyed Olivia since the beginning, but part of the passion had been that she was Maximino's girl. It had been fascinating to think that a woman, who was involved with such a powerful man, still wanted to spend some of her nights with him. It had soothed Nick's self-esteem and fed his thoughts about himself.

If Olivia had someone new it meant that she was no longer pleased with what Maximino and Nick had to offer. The lawyer certainly didn't like the thought.

Of course he had to admit that money and adventure certainly had something to do with the matter. Olivia grew bored so easily that it was a wonder she hadn't found someone else any earlier.

Nick didn't meet anyone on his way home. He was relieved when he could lie down and close everything from his mind. Whether it was Olivia, Maximino or work.

Or Olivia's new man.

Nick Virago slept and had no idea what happened that night.

* * *

Margarita froze.

"Oh no, I forgot!" she exclaimed and pressed her hand on her bony cheek. How could she be so stupid? "Now, where did I put them?"

She dropped her coat and started to go through her small case. There was only an hour before dawn and Rubacava was silent around her. Those who worshipped the night were already asleep and those who preferred day time hadn't woken up yet.

Margarita always went home at that time. Yes, she worked too late, but it was the only way to stay in Maximino's service. She knew better than well that with her looks she wouldn't keep the job without other kind of sacrifices.

All kinds of small items flew from her case as she went through it. Her lipstick rolled some steps away on the street.

"Ah, here they are," she sighed in relief when she found Nick's papers. For a moment she had feared she had lost them.

She would have to go back and put them on Maximino's desk before morning. Margarita would have rather died again than done something wrong and angered Nick. Thinking about the lawyer made her feel funny inside and she pressed the papers against her chest.

Yes, she was a fool and she knew it. A successful man like Nick Virago would never even glance at her direction.

But she still wanted to please him.

"I better hurry," she muttered to herself and gathered everything back in her case. Then she started towards the Cat Track to get there before Raoul closed the place. She had a key to the offices of course, but she didn't want to be all alone in the big building.

Suddenly she heard steps behind her and froze again. Margarita turned around slowly, afraid of what she would see. It was dangerous to be alone in Rubacava in the last hours of the night - whether you were a woman or not - and every night she feared she might face one of the shadier inhabitants of the city.

When she saw who it was she sighed in relief.

"Oh, it's you," she said. "For a moment I thought - " she started, but never finished. Her jaw moved, but there were not words.

The papers fell from her numb hands.

"What are you - No!"

There was a shot and Margarita screamed for the last time during her existence. Someone picked up the papers she had dropped, went through her case and left.

* * *

When Nick woke up it was already noon. There was a window right in front of his bed, and he could see the weather without having to get up.

It was foggy and it looked like it could start raining at any moment. Nick sat up and lit a cigarette. After sleeping and having some smoke inside him he felt much better. Now a glass or two of something, and he could go on for a couple of weeks.

No one cared at what time he arrived at work, as long as everything got done at time. Nick would have liked to lie in his bed for a while longer, but the worry of whether Margarita had taken care of her easy task or not forced him to get up.

His apartment was, to put it nicely, in an outrageous condition. Even though he always took good care of his looks and image, Nick Virago was not a tidy person. The floor was covered in clothes - some less clean - and papers, books, pens, cigarettes, ash and coffee mugs lay all around the place. Nick didn't really enjoy himself in the middle of it all, but he thought it was too tiring to clean his own mess.

It took a while before he found wearable clothes. Olivia wasn't wrong when she said he was not very good at finding things. It had always been one of his problems and Nick knew that cleaning the mess wouldn't have helped at all.

After taking care of the most important thing - that he looked good enough - he left to work.

His apartment was on the better side of Rubacava. He lived on rent, but because of the obvious reasons never let his landlord see the apartment. The man didn't mind as long as he got his money and the arrangement was fine with the both of them. Nick was sure he would have lost it if someone had tried to take control of his afterlife.

When he stepped out he was annoyed to notice that it had already started raining. It was a mere drizzle, but that was what Nick hated the most. The small drops tickled his skull and didn't do good to his suit. He hoped again that he owned an umbrella. Maybe he did, but just hadn't seen it under the mess in years.

When he got closer to the Cat Track he noticed that a crowd had gathered there. And most of them didn't fit it in the picture; a great amount of dock workers and other low scum were around.

Nick saw Chowchilla Charlie in the crowd and headed to his directions. The con artist was annoying as hell, but he always knew what was going on in Rubacava.

"What happened?" he asked as he reached the short man. Charlie took a cigarette from his mouth and stubbed it out under his shoe.

"I hate rain. It gives me bad luck," he muttered.

"I asked what happened," Nick pointed out sharply, and the other man lifted his eye sockets.

"Nick. I haven't talked with you after they no longer valued my company in this part of the city," he said. Then he nodded in the direction where everyone was looking at. "Such a sad event." Nick didn't think the con artist felt sorry for anyone.

"Someone was sprouted again?" he asked.

"Yes, and not just anyone. You must know Maximino's horrible secretary?"

"Margarita?"

"Yes, and I don't find it odd that someone wanted to get rid of her. I haven't seen such a woman in my entire life!" Charlie mouthed his opinion and took a new cigarette from his pocket. "Do you have fire? I am afraid my own lighter doesn't work anymore."

Nick borrowed his lighter to Charlie and made sure he got it back as well. The little man was not only a con artist, but a sly thief as well.

"It must be important if Bogan has bothered here as well," he muttered when he saw the police officer in the crowd. Charlie let out a voice of agreement as he inhaled smoke.

"Quite an interesting story, if I may say," he started. "Hey, don't you want to hear?" he asked as he noticed Nick had taken off in the direction of the entrance to High Roller's Lounge.

"I have better things to do than listen to gossip. Unlike others, I have a real job," the lawyer said leaving Charlie in the rain.

Actually he was interested in Charlie's story, the man knew exactly how to colour things to make them interesting, but Nick felt that something wasn't right and he wanted to take care of that before doing anything else.

He had given important papers to Margarita and the woman had been murdered right after that. Her fate didn't bother him and he didn't feel guilty, but a question kept nagging at him: had she given the papers to Maximino before her second death?

The best way to find out was to go and ask Maximino about it.

Unfortunately Nick didn't have the chance to do it because the office of his boss was crowded with people. There were several police officers and a huge amount of rich souls who wanted excitement in their boring afterlives. The lawyer stayed at the edge of the group in annoyance. Maximino noticed him immediately, but didn't have time to say anything to him.

"Why was she murdered?" someone asked and Nick had the exactly same question in his mind. Margarita had been ugly as sin, but even Nick didn't think it was a reason good enough to shoot her. There had to be something else going on.

"I don't know any more than you do. A sad thing to happen, and I promise to tell you once I know more. I also assure that you are all save here near the Cat Track. What happened last night was a mere exception," Maximino promised. Nick didn't know if anyone believed, but at least people started to slowly drift away, leaving him alone with his superior.

Maximino shook his head.

"We get advertisement because of this, but it's still a pity. She was a hard working girl," he said.

"But not very good for our image," Nick pointed out.

"Perhaps not. That's why I gave her the most distant office." Nick had to snort at Maximino's comment.

"Do you think they will arrest someone?" he asked then.

"Bogan will probably get someone, as usual. Now what is it that he always says?"

"'Round up the usual suspects', if I am right," Nick stated. "A good policy to keep his own record clean."

"Of course."

"I just hope this doesn't interfere without business," the lawyer said then changing the subject.

"Hardly. That reminds me, how are you doing with the Martonza papers? I want them on my desk before next Monday," Maximino said.

"They are almost finished," Nick lied swiftly.

Damn.

* * *

After changing a couple of words with Maximino Nick headed for the office area. Things weren't to his liking, but he still had a way to repair everything.

He walked past his office and opened the door to Margarita's one. The lawyer stepped inside and looked around. Everything was in neat order and the room looked actually nice when the secretary wasn't around.

Nick didn't waste his time, but opened one of Margarita's drawers. If the woman hadn't given the papers to Maximino they had to be in her office. Nick didn't want to even think about anything else.

A quick examination showed him that the papers weren't there. Nick went through the room twice to make sure that he really searched every place. Finally he had to give up and admit that they weren't anywhere. Margarita's office was in such a tidy state that even he couldn't have missed a pile of papers.

There was only one thing to do.

Every good lawyer always took copies of all important papers. He had copies of the Martonza case and he would just have to work on them again. It would take time, but at least everything would be fine after it.

Nick left Margarita's office and closed the door behind him. Thankfully he was the only one around, even the workaholic Alberto wasn't in sight. He suspected everyone was talking about Margarita's fate.

The door to his office was locked, as usual, and he opened it with his key. Everyone who worked for Maximino had a key to the offices.

When he opened the door and stepped in everything seemed to be fine. Unlike his apartment, Nick's office was clean and everything was in a pretty good order. Of course, the fact that Maximino had a maid to clean helped things a lot. The only extra item on his desk was a coffee mug. The windowshades were down and the office was very dim.

Nick switched the light on and walked straight to his shelf. He drew out a dark blue map and went through the papers.

Nothing. Had to be a wrong map.

He took the next one, this time it was red, but the result was no better. Nick dropped the map on the floor in rage not caring that some of the papers spread on the carpet.

"They have to be here!" he muttered a cold feel creeping inside him. His movements became faster and more nervous, and finally he did nothing but dropped maps on the floor in his search for the papers.

He remembered how he had put the copies in the shelf. He had done it a bit earlier than giving the actual papers to Margarita. The memory was clear in his mind, and yet he couldn't t find the copies anywhere.

After going through every map and covering his floor with papers Nick had to give up. Someone had broken into his office, stolen the copies of the Martonza case and even murdered because of them. Whoever it was, and whatever was the reason, it meant only one thing to Nick Virago.

He was really in trouble.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 2**

_"So everything is settled?"_

_Nick didn't turn his eye sockets from the man who sat behind his desk lighting a cigar._

_"Absolutely, Mr. Martonza. We still have some of Maximino's papers to take care of, but I will be able to send them to you within a month and a half," he promised._

_"That is quite long," Martonza stated lifting his legs on his desk and breathing smoke inside him. "I may not have the needed patience."_

_"I'm sure it's worth it," Nick said and hoped that he could have moved his chair farther away from the desk. The cigar Martonza smoked was of a brand he couldn't stand, and the lawyer didn't want to be too close to the man's legs either._

_Martonza blew out a small cloud of smoke. His skull was very asymmetrical and looked like someone had cut a piece of it. The man did nothing to hide it, but seemed to enjoy the suspicious way everyone treated him._

_"If Maximino says so. My predecessor liked to work with him."_

_"And it was very profitable for the both of them. You will get as many boats as you need and a safe hideout from our docks, and we get our share of the guns you smuggle," Nick said repeating the basics of the deal. It wasn't the first time, but he knew how important it was to make sure that this man agreed._

_Smuggling guns was never safe if you didn't work for Hector. The man had soon become a monopolist and everyone who was even suspected of dealing with illegal guns was immediately sprouted._

_"Hm, we shall see about that. If something goes wrong you take the hit. Here in Puerto Zapato we have countless ways of escaping Hector's wrath, but Rubacava is practically his territory," Martonza stated._

_"You underestimate Maximino. The town still belongs to him," Nick heard himself say._

_They talked for another while about the details of the deal before Nick collected his papers and started to leave. The trip back to Rubacava would take at least a week and he wanted to get back as soon as possible. He hated ships and the sea, and the sooner he left, the sooner it would be over._

Nick slammed the door to his office shut, and the sound echoed through the corridor. He knew he looked angry, but that was one of those things he couldn't have cared less at the moment.

"Going somewhere?" Alberto asked with no worry as Nick swirled past him. The slightly taller lawyer had stopped at the door to his own office when Nick had left his, and a small smile played on his face.

The only reply Nick gave was a short growl. It made Alberto snort and shrug before returning to his office.

"Is Chowchilla Charlie still outside?" Nick asked the first tolerable person he met. It was a woman who worked in the kitchen, but Nick didn't think he had ever heard her name.

"Uh... I don't... " she mumbled completely bewildered that someone like Nick actually talked to her.

"Fool!" the lawyer snapped not staying to wait for a better answer. He wanted to meat Charlie immediately without having to search half of the town for him. The little man had the most annoying habit of disappearing when he was needed.

It was still raining outside and when Nick arrived to the murder scene he noticed that the crowd was gone, most likely to drink and gossip. Margarita's body was gone as well, and nothing revealed that something horrible had happened the previous night.

Maybe I will let him wait for a while; Nick thought and decided to take a look around. He didn't trust the police force in Rubacava - they were nothing but bribed crooks who acted like they were actually doing something - and he guessed they must have missed something.

But there wasn't much to investigate. The area was very plain and with several glances anyone could see that nothing interesting was around. And even if there were, the excited crowd had managed to stomp it under their feet.

The water that poured from the sky had made him completely wet and Nick couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable. He decided to pay a quick visit to his apartment to get dry clothes on and find something that could serve as an umbrella. Once he was in decent clothes again he would find Charlie and make the man tell his story.

Perhaps the con artist wouldn't be able to tell him more than useless rumours, but Nick was ready to hear them too. Something had to be done before he ran out of time.

The easy way was to tell it all to Maximino, but Nick didn't want to do it. He was the man's lawyer and the papers had been his responsibility. He had given them to a mere secretary only because he had been too tired to leave them to Maximino's desk himself. It was not needed to ask who would take the blame.

Nick wasn't that disturbed by being guilty - he knew Maximino would never punish him because of something like this - but he didn't want his reputation to get stained. Alberto would never stop laughing and mocking him.

The streets were deserted as he hurried home. It was not too long to the docks and there were usually several dead seagulls flying around. Now they were nowhere to be seen and Nick suspected that they too were hiding from the rain.

_Well, at least Olivia gets new inspiration,_ he thought dryly. He could already imagine the woman reading with her bored voice about how dark and painful rain really was. She was not as rebellious and noble as her poems made her seem, and Nick didn't always know why he bothered to listen to her.

He had a strong hunch that he wouldn't have much time for her until this was over.

When he got to his apartment the rain had become a mere drizzle. Nick paid a quick visit inside, got a new suit and came back out. It looked like it would not start pouring again, but he decided to be careful and took an old newspaper with him. He didn't have any other clean suits at the moment, so he couldn't afford getting the one he was wearing wet.

The short rain had made the air fresh and it was pleasantly cool. It didn't look like the clouds would clear any time soon, and Nick suspected the following night would be more or less rainy.

He also suspected that he knew where to find Chowchilla Charlie. After the con artist had been kicked out of all the places owned by Maximino, he had been forced to find other places to suit his tastes. At first he had spent time in Manny's café, but after the placed had been closed he had had to move again.

Nick's feet took him to the docks and he looked around in contempt. The streets were dirty and not even the rain had made them look any better. There was rusty junk everywhere and a dark atmosphere lurked around the pubs. Now that it was still daytime they were very quiet, and Nick thanked his luck for that. He definitely didn't want to be seen in such places.

_I_ _hope most of them are so drunk that they won't remember seeing me,_ he though to himself as he stepped inside the first pub.

It was dim inside and the air smelled of old and cheap cigarettes and booze. Nick was careful where to place his steps as he walked in, he didn't want to step on anything unrecognizable. It was almost silent, only the faint clink of glass against glass and a quiet conversation in a dark corner told him that he wasn't completely alone.

"You want something?" a very edgy looking skeleton asked him behind a bar table. He wore a dirty sailor's shirt and his bones were decorated in such a way that Nick guessed he was a regular at Toto's.

"Tell me where Chowchilla Charlie is," he suggested. The bartender shot a sharp glance at him, and nodded towards the tables.

"You'll find him there."

Nick didn't thank, but turned on his heels in the direction the man had showed him. Even in the dim he could see that most of the tables were empty, and there were people only in the ones that were in the dark. Charlie was a short man, and the lawyer saw him immediately.

The con artist lifted his eye sockets as Nick stepped next to his table. He didn't look surprised, but there was a confused expression on his face.

"But Nick, what are you doing in a place like this? Did they kick you out too?" he asked in mock pity.

"You were going to tell me something about Margarita. I have time for that now," Nick stated as he took a chair opposite the man.

"Really? Why such an honour? I thought you wouldn't be interested in the stories of one like me." Charlie drew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Nick didn't bother asking where the man had got a new lighter.

"I don't need to tell my business to you. Just tell me everything you know."

Charlie sighed. "Nick, Nick... Don't be so... aggressive. I will tell my story, I love telling stories, but first I want to know what I will get."

"You would have done it for free before," Nick pointed out.

"Yes, but now you need me and it costs."

Nick glared at the man. "I despise you."

"Oh, who doesn't?" Charlie said sounding almost sad. Nick knew it was just the man's way to act harmless and stupid. When it came to business Chowchilla Charlie could do anything.

He pondered the situation for a moment. Charlie was a crook who somehow always managed to find out everything about everything. The man had no power and no powerful friends. He had success only because he could be sly. Nick knew he was going to need the help of someone like that if he wanted to solve this mystery.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "What do you want?"

"Hmm, an interesting question. I would like you to talk to Max for me and make him take me back to Cat Track. The docks are not very good for my business," the con artist said.

"It will take a miracle for that to happen. You are not good for _our_ business," Nick stated as a reply.

Charlie shrugged.

"Someone is always suffering. Maybe it's you if you don't care enough about my story," he said.

_I must be very desperate,_ Nick thought. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. Now tell me everything you know about this event."

"I don't know why you are interested in this and I would love to hear that. I won't ask anything now, but maybe later," Charlie started. Nick said nothing, merely stared coldly at the con artist waiting to hear something useful.

"You asked about Bogan's presence at the murder scene. Usually he wouldn't bother to arrive on such weather, but this time..." Charlie snorted as if he knew a private joke. "You see Nick, Bogan and Margarita knew each other _very_ well."

"That's it? You don't have anything else to say?" Nick asked and an angry tone crept into his voice.

"What? We never agreed on what I was supposed to tell you. My, Nick, did you think I would tell you Margarita's whole life story? I'm sure you know more about her than I do. You worked in the same building after all," Charlie said and spread his hands in an apology.

Nick only growled as a reply and stood up so quickly that his chair made a loud noise against the floor. He was more than aware of the curious glances shot in his direction from the shadows.

"If you think I will do anything for you, you are clearly mistaken!" he snapped in Charlie's direction before turning around and marching out. That snake!

"Hey Nick, wait!" the con artist shouted after him, but Nick was not on the mood to hear. Charlie didn't leave after him, and the lawyer guessed that he didn't have anything important to say.

Nick decided to go back to work and get something done. Maybe he would get an idea if he thought about something else for a while.

* * *

The day was starting to turn into night and Nick hadn't come up with anything that could have helped him with the case. He still didn't know anything but that someone had seen it necessary to steal the papers of the Martonza case. Margarita's murder could have something to do with it, but the woman's fate had most likely been a mere coincidence.

No one could do anything with just the papers and Nick suspected that not a finger had been lifted against the real victim yet. He was sure someone wanted to ruin Maximino's business.

But that was all he knew. Anyone of Maximino's countless enemies could be behind it all.

"I always knew you are an untidy person, but this is too much," an amused voice stated from the door, and Nick turned around. He had returned to his office to clean the mess he had made, but had ended up sitting behind his desk and thinking about the events.

"And I thought that I closed my door," he said to Alberto who didn't bother to step in, merely eyed the messy room with a grin on his face.

"Don't be so grumpy, Nick. Or maybe you have worries? Trouble with work, perhaps?" Alberto asked and Nick eyed him more carefully.

"Why do you ask?" he asked on guard. Was it possible that Alberto knew? And if he did, why and how?

The other lawyer shrugged and straightened from his leaning position against the wall. "Just trying to make a conversation. But it looks like you have other things to do." He kicked several papers sending them flying to Nick's direction.

"You can say that. But how about you, how has your work been lately?"

The question made Alberto look at him in confusion and it took a while before he replied.

"Fine, thanks for asking," he said suspiciously. "Of course it would be better if a certain lawyer I know wouldn't get all the important cases."

"There are only winners and losers in this world," Nick stated.

"How deep. Excuse me, even if I am not as messy as you I have work to do as well," Alberto said mockingly.

Nick nodded and the other man left closing the door after him.

Nick sat there for a moment and thought. Had his colleague had a reason to visit him? They didn't really spend time with each other and it was a rare occasion that one searched for the other's company.

He sighed angrily and rubbed his temples. He could already sense the nearing headache. Maybe he would have to visit Olivia. The woman would certainly make him feel better.

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 3**

For most souls the dark and quiet atmosphere in Blue Casket was something soothing that made them forget their problems for a moment. In the club one didn't have to think about who he was, but he could concentrate in merely sitting and enjoying himself.

Nick had always felt that the place was harrowing in its own way and he had never dared to completely relax there - until he got to Olivia's private rooms, that is. After Lola had taken a picture of him and Olivia in a rather awkward situation he had just become more careful.

And something told him that he would have to be even more careful on that night.

"So how has the night been, sugar?" he asked Olivia as he walked to her. The woman stood on her usual place and kept an eye on the almost nonexistent events in her club.

"I suppose you had a hard day," she stated not turning to even glance in Nick's direction.

"You don't want to know."

"No, I don't. Maximino spent the entire day telling me how the murder of that woman - what was her name again - is not good for his business."

"Just what Maximino would do; always complaining about matters he knows have no meaning," Nick stated.

Olivia merely snorted as a response.

At that point Nick usually would have touched the woman softly or otherwise told her what he wanted, and Olivia would have allowed that. They would have withdrawn in her private rooms and Nick would have left and returned to his own apartment in the last moments of the night. Things had always been like that between then, nothing more, nothing less.

At that night the lawyer did nothing, merely stood behind her and watched her while her eye sockets were fixed on the club. He was more than aware of the way she had treated him lately.

Glances cast away, short conversations and quiet moments. No more amusing insults or short moments when neither of them had to be something bigger than death.

Yes, it was more than obvious that she was trying to avoid him. Nick knew that he had been - or would be soon enough - replaced. It made a bitter taste rise in his mouth and he had to wonder when Maximino would be told that Olivia was planning to move into bigger circles.

"You are awfully quiet tonight," he said. He knew, and Olivia knew that he did, but he wanted to make the woman say it. It was ridiculous and childish and he was sure that Olivia would laugh and tell about him to her new boyfriend - Nick was sure he knew who that soul was -, but he didn't really care.

He had been with her for over two years. The least he deserved was to make her say something to him without tricks or lies. It would be the first time.

"Must be my headache. I have suffered from it since yesterday afternoon. This weather causes it, I can't stand rain," the woman said and still didn't look at him. Nick was starting to feel like a fool talking to her back like that.

"I see," he said and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I have slept more than usually because of it," Olivia said. Nick knew that it was her way of telling him that she wanted him to leave. She always used headache as her excuse when she didn't want to be with someone, usually Maximino.

"That's it?" he asked. Now Olivia turned around as if she was surprised to hear his question. "Is that enough to drive you away from the big cat's pocket?" Nick added and a small amused smile appeared on Olivia's face.

"Sometimes that is quite enough," she said.

They didn't talk in another while and Nick decided to leave. It was clear that he had nothing to stay for. He had the chance of taking his first step when Olivia spoke again.

"You know Nick," she started and the lawyer stopped. "If your little... company is going to honour the secretary's loved ones somehow... I think you would be the best to deliver the message. You and Santino must have so much in common."

"What? Who is Santino?" Nick was sure that there was a meaning behind the woman's words, but he had no idea what it was.

"Don't tell me you don't know the poor soul's fiancé. I am surprised. You worked in the same place," Olivia said.

"I thought she had something to do with Bogan," Nick said.

"So you knew _that_. Let's say I am not the only one with a secret in this town."

Nick didn't have to hear more. At that moment a whole new picture appeared in his mind and he realised he could understand the situation a bit after all.

"I am not interested in the matters of meaningless souls. You should know that," he said before starting to leave, barely able to hide his excitement. Maybe Olivia noticed it, maybe not. He couldn't tell what she thought of him after she no longer considered him worth of her time.

In a way Nick was slightly disappointed in how things had ended. He had known that it would happen, and he had also known that he would never get an explanation from her. Their small relationship had started under everyone's noses without many people noticing anything. It had now ended that way, and no one would ever have to know.

* * *

His steps took him closer to the docks that had awoken with the night. In daytime he could have walked around as much as he wanted, but now he had no intention of doing that. Ones like him were not popular among sailors and he wouldn't have wanted to chit chat with them anyway.

"You there," he called from the shadows to a young boy. He stopped and looked at Nick with a slightly nervous expression, and the lawyer suspected he was a mere inexperienced lad.

"What do you want, sir?" the boy asked trying to make his voice sound polite.

"Find Chowchilla Charlie and tell him that someone is waiting for him here." As he spoke Nick slipped his hand in his pocket and drew out a coin. He threw it at the boy who caught it from the air and hid it in his clothes.

"Right away sir!" he exclaimed sounding much more enthusiastic, and ran off. Nick watched him go for a moment, and took a cigarette from his other pocket.

The place he had chosen was quiet and away from the night life. Wind blew from the sea and made the almost empty pier a cold place. Nick stood right on the edge and stared at the black water with the cigarette in his fingers. Doing that always made him feel uncomfortable inside.

He had to stand alone for at least twenty minutes before anything happened. He didn't turn around when he heard steps.

"You are late," he stated.

"But we never agreed to meet. Come on Nick, you can't expect that such an important man as me will follow your every word," Chowchilla Charlie said, not stepping too close. While Nick stood on the edge of the pier the con artist preferred the street.

"I am an impatient man and I have no time to lose. I found out that you didn't tell me everything about Margarita's relationship with Bogan. I don't like that."

"What? Are you threatening me? I never thought you'd sink that low, Nick." Charlie's voice was no longer amused, only annoyed.

"Take my words as you wish to. Right now I suggest you to tell me everything you know about Margarita, Santino and Bogan," Nick said. As he spoke he turned around to be able to look at Charlie.

"I am terribly sorry, Nick. I thought you'd know the basics of the people you work with. I should have remembered that you couldn't be less interested in people other than yourself," Charlie said and raised his hands in front of himself as he saw Nick's not so pleasant expression. "Fine, fine. But as you know, information costs."

"I do know, and I promise to say something good about you to Maximino. Just tell me something worth my time," Nick said. It would be difficult to come up with something positive about a small crook whose existence was of no use to anyone, but...

"And I want to know what is going on and why you are suddenly so interested in this sprouted woman," Charlie added.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Nick said sharply. He knew that Charlie could keep a secret if one paid him enough, but it was more a matter of principles. The lawyer was used to taking care of awkward business all by himself.

"No, but if I know what you are trying to accomplish I can find better information for you. Maybe there is something you want to know, but it means nothing to me and I therefore don't even mention it. It's good for the both of us if we solve your problem - whatever it is. You can forget it, and I walk back in the Cat Track with you," the con artist explained and tilted his head hopefully. He reminded Nick of a begging dog.

"I don't know how much I can trust you, so be careful. One wrong move or word and you are out of my plans."

"Naturally, Nick, naturally. I know well enough how things are in these circles," Charlie assured and seemed to be feeling much better. "Margarita and Santino... you must know who he is?" When Nick shook his head Charlie continued: "Well, you are aware of the new guy who took over Calavera's place after Bogan closed it? Good. Santino works there as a waiter. I have met him only once; he's a big and strong man. One who looks like he always gets what he wants."

"And he wanted Margarita?"

"Oh, absolutely. Don't ask me why. The two of them were engaged when they arrived in Rubacava and started to work to earn enough money to go on. One rarely saw them together anywhere, they were out only a couple of times. Or so I've heard. Angel told me that she would love to be with such a strong willed man."

Nick nodded gesturing Charlie to continue. He suspected that the sly con artist hadn't told it all to him during their previous meeting just because he wanted to be in the picture. Nick knew that he wouldn't have agreed to accept the con artist's help before.

"At some point Margarita got to know Bogan, and they learned to know each other very well. I think Bogan quite liked her if he bothered to come and see the murder scene himself," Charlie said. "I am curious to know why you are so interested in this. Maybe you too had a place in your heart for that woman, and want to find her murderer?"

"How amusing," Nick snorted. "I do want to know who murdered her, but it's purely because of business. I left some very important papers to Margarita and they can't be found anywhere anymore. All copies of them were stolen on the night she was sprouted."

"Ah, that is interesting. I suppose that you will be in hot water if the papers are not found in time, right?" Charlie didn't have to wait for Nick's reply to understand. "Interesting indeed. What papers were they?"

Nick thought for a while before replying. If Charlie really wanted to help him he would have to tell the man everything possible. In a way he wanted the con artist's advice, the man knew much more about Rubacava than he did. Nick had to admit that he had never been interested in anything that didn't happen in the better parts of Rubacava.

"The Martonza case. It's the biggest contract Maximino has had in a long while. I should take care of the paper work within a week, but that is quite difficult since there isn't any."

Charlie sighed. "Oh, you have got yourself in quite a mess, Nick. You suppose that by finding Margarita's murderer you will find the papers too?"

"Of course, I don't think another option exists."

For a while they just stood there. Nick turned his gaze to the sea and listened if Charlie would leave. He knew that after finding out what he wanted the con artist could just do it.

"You know Nick," the shorter man started.

"Yes? Already decided what to think about this?"

"Not exactly, but I have decided to help you. There are many reason, the main one of course that doing this is a straight way back to Maximino's favour. And I am terribly frustrated. Lately I have done nothing but fake money, small amounts. That is so... boring and lacks all imagination."

"I can imagine. But I am not here to listen to your complaints. Someone wants to ruin Maximino's business and I have to find out who it is," Nick said.

"Not that easy, you know. There are many in this town who would be happy to take his place."

"Unfortunately true. Any of them could be behind this." Despite that his thoughts had circled around the case the whole day, Nick hadn't been able to name anyone who could have been more likely the guilty than someone else.

He eyed the sea in thought. "I usually don't want to have anything to do with them, but now might be the time of paying a visit to some of Maximino's competitors," he muttered.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 4**

It was long past midnight when Nick and Charlie walked the steps to a building in the better part of Rubacava. There was no visible light in the horizon, but the sun would announce itself in couple of hours.

Despite the late time of the night the duo knew that they would get an appointment. Maybe not a friendly one, but an appointment nevertheless. Rainer Himmel, one of Maximino's competitors, was known for that he was always ready to meet anyone.

"Are you sure about this, Nick? It's of course ridiculous to suggest that this is dangerous, but one can never be too careful. It's rarely a good idea to knock on the gates of your employer's enemy in the middle of the night, and this is Rubacava we are talking about," Charlie said. He was walking behind Nick, but didn't show a sign of cowering away.

"I'm sure you know that I have better things to do than trying Himmel's doors at this time, but there's little else I can do. We have lost one day without finding out anything," the lawyer replied. "Besides, I know that he too was interested in a deal with Martonza and murdering a secretary and stealing the papers is exactly something that I would expect of him."

"Well, if you say so."

They arrived to a ledge high above the street level. It wasn't the highest place around and nothing compared to Manny's old cafe, but unusually impressive anyway. They stopped in front of a simple wooden door and Nick knocked on it a couple of times.

It took only a little while before a voice spoke to them. "Yes?"

Nick turned to the voice, not looking impressed the least. Security was always on its best during the last hours of night and he was slightly surprised for that a gun hadn't been pointed to his ribs yet.

"I am here to meet Himmel," he said.

"And he?" the voice asked and they saw a hand point at Charlie.

"He is with me," the lawyer replied.

"You know, I can talk too, Nick," Charlie said softly. He didn't look nervous at all. In fact, he seemed to be feeling quite homey. During the whole time that Nick had known the con artist he had never seen him afraid of anything. Angry, yes, but never nervous.

"I wouldn't trust you to say the right things," Nick stated.

"I'll see what I can do," the voice said and a long silence followed. Nick turned to look at the nightly Rubacava and sought out the few buildings that still had light in their windows. The inhabitants of the city were awake most of the night, but during the last hours most of them went to sleep.

He couldn't see Blue Casket from that part of the city, but he could imagine that it was dark already. Only the upper floor ever had light, and only when Olivia had visitors.

Someone tapped his shoulder and he turned to the disturber.

"What?" he asked in annoyance.

"What are you thinking about? I asked you a question," Charlie said. To Nick his voice sounded like the con artist was mocking him, but he suppressed an angry snap. He really was feeling tight.

"I wasn't listening," he said.

"Yes, I noticed. I just wanted to know what you hope to achieve. Despite what you think, we may not find out anything," Charlie said.

"I know," Nick said, "I also know that - "

"Mister Himmel is ready to see you. But first..."

Neither Nick nor Charlie did anything when a rather thick man emerged from the shadows and went through them to find hidden guns. Nick had never seen Maximino use such over the top security, the gambling crime lord had faith in his customers. However, the lawyer understood how careful small timers had to be in Rubacava. No one was stupid enough to threaten Maximino, but the rest couldn't trust on the same.

"Fine. Follow me," the man said nodding. He knocked on the door and it was opened almost immediately. Nick and Charlie followed the man inside.

Nick had never talked with Himmel. The little business that was between Maximino and his competitor was taken care of on the lawyer level, and Alberto was usually the one who got the job. Of course Nick still knew something about the German.

The man led them upstairs and knocked on the door there. He didn't wait for a reply but opened the door and gestured Nick and Charlie to step in. Then he closed the door after them.

The room they found themselves in was very dim. The only light came from a low lamp on a desk that was located near the only window. Behind the desk sat a long and slim man who raised himself from his papers as the duo stepped in.

"Ach, come closer," Himmel said and gestured at them. He was wearing a white shirt with the first buttons ripped off and a loosely tied red tie. On his head was a grey hat and he had a half burnt cigarette between his teeth.

After glancing at them he returned to his work. "Well, what do you want?"

"I am here to talk about business," Nick said stepping closer. Himmel took another glance at him.

"At this time of the night? And shouldn't you meet my lawyer? But be my guest and take a chair. I can very well listen to you while I write to my mother," he said.

"As I said, I want to talk about important business," Nick started.

"Maximino sent you? It really must be something if he can take his best lawyer off from other work and send him here right before dawn."

Nick shook his head. "No, I represent my friend here," he said and nodded at Charlie. The con artist was intelligent enough to stay expressionless and did nothing but turned to look at Himmel.

The German put his pen on the desk. "And why, if I may ask, are you interested in working for the second class crook everyone knows?" he wanted to ask.

"He has money," Nick replied simply.

"And Maximino doesn't pay you enough?" Himmel finished his letter and folded it nicely in two before slipping it inside an envelope.

"He does, but if man wants to gather savings for unexpected expenses he needs to work for it," Nick said. He wasn't sure how much Himmel was ready to buy and would have been happy to add something else. Talking too much would have made the German suspicious though, so he kept his jaw shut.

Himmel snorted. "Hector LeMans has made you his offer? I take you must like trains a lot if you are ready to represent him," he said with a nod to Charlie's direction.

"I don't think that is any of your business," the lawyer stated coldly. Himmel said nothing, but glanced at him looking like he thought he knew the situation better than well.

_What an arrogant bastard,_ Nick thought to himself. He had never got the impression that Himmel was a man to his liking, and it wasn't only because the two of them had much in common.

"Maybe not," the German agreed. He put his hands on the desk. "But what do I have to do with this? I hardly have anything that your... client could want, and I certainly don't need his services."

"We are aware of that. My friend has faced a great wrong and it is very possible that you could help him a bit," Nick said. He had an idea what he was about to say and to which direction he would take the conversation. He hoped he wouldn't have to improvise much; he was not too good at it.

"Interesting. What is going on?" Himmel glanced at Charlie again, but his face told nothing of his feelings.

"As you must know, one of Maximino's secretaries met an unfortunate end a while ago." Nick didn't have to say more and Himmel asked no questions. It was obvious. The German merely nodded.

"Go on, I am listening."

"My client happened to have some important business with the woman. You understand tickets to S.S. Lamancha and such. He finds it sad to lose a customer who was ready to pay well for his hard work," the lawyer said.

"I have to ask again: what does this have to do with me?" Himmel asked. He leaned back in his chair and probed his pocket a while until he found a new cigarette. He put it between his teeth but didn't light it.

"We are sure that some of your men have something to do with the matter."

"Where did you hear that?" The German made this question to Charlie who smiled at him as an apology.

"Well, I am sure you know, the word lives on the street and all. Normally I wouldn't bother you with a matter like this, but she was a good customer," the con artist said smoothly and fingered his own unlit cigarette.

Himmel shook his head. "Impossible. None of my men would do it without my approval. And shooting a mere secretary has never been one of my interests."

"It is always possible that one of your men has someone else's money in his pockets. It happens more often than people believe," Nick threw in. Himmel looked at him looking slightly amused.

"Like at the very moment, right?" The lawyer paid no attention to the comment.

"My customer would be thankful to know where your men were on Monday night. Just to be able to sleep his nights well, you understand. He pays of course," he said.

Himmel looked at him in suspicion. "This is hardly a job to meet your education? No one needs a lawyer for a matter like this."

"No," Nick said and shrugged. "But he pays me."

"Your suggestion hurts me greatly," Himmel said with a snort. "I am sure that you know that I don't accept just anybody among my men and all of them are most loyal to me. They might have their way with small crimes, but wouldn't sprout anyone without my approval."

"What if we had proof?" Charlie asked suddenly and Nick did his best to not turn to look at the small man. The lawyer hoped that the con artist was intelligent enough to put his words well.

Himmel froze and took the cigarette from his mouth. His whole attention was in the small man now. "Proof?" he repeated sounding serious for the first time during the whole conversation.

Charlie nodded. "I and Margarita were going to have a meeting on that night. The shooting didn't take place far away from the spot where I was and I heard the shot as clearly as if it had been fired right behind me. Of course I didn't go and see what had happened, but the murderers ran past without noticing me. They were carrying papers that they had naturally taken from the poor woman's body, and I heard how they whispered to each other. Your name was one of those they mentioned," he said.

"Could be a coincidence," Himmel said darkly. He tapped the desk in thought and said nothing in a while.

"But you must understand that my client wants to be sure. I think you are aware of that he's one of Maximino's friends," Nick said. The German glared at him when he heard the threat.

"I don't like your tone," he said. "I am still not ready to believe that any of my men would work for someone else, but I will ask them some questions," he promised.

Nick nodded. "We are grateful," he promised.

"I sure hope my wallet will be too," Himmel stated putting the cigarette back in his mouth. He took his pen and started to write a new letter. Nick and Charlie stood up and they were led back outside.

"Well, what do you think?" Charlie asked as they left the part of the city.

"It went well," Nick replied.

"But we didn't find out if he did it or not," Charlie stated.

"Because of your little act we will know that sooner or later."

Charlie took a look at Nick. "May I take that as a compliment? Amazing, one never hears anything good from you," he said. "You are right of course. If he didn't do it he will do everything to prove his men's innocence. He has strange views on honour," he added.

"And if he really did it, he thinks we are looking for your files, not the Martonza papers," Nick stated.

"Do you think he is guilty?"

Nick pondered the question before replying. "He is a potential option, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone else. We need to talk to others as well. Margarita's would be husband comes first to mind."

"Do you want to talk to him right now?" Charlie asked.

"No. It's morning already and he wouldn't be happy if we woke him up now. Besides, I want to sleep a bit too. Some of us have to work today," Nick said nodding at the thin line of light on the sky above the sea.

"Whatever you say, Nick."

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**THE MARTONZA CASE**

**Chapter 5**

The following day in Rubacava was very similar to the previous one. One of the poets in Blue Casket had once said that the town never changed but lived forever in its own secret dimension.

No one remembered that poet's name anymore. He had left town after a relatively short amount of time when his career hadn't caught wind under its wings.

Chowchilla Charlie stubbed out the first cigarette of the day and eyed the street. No one and nothing was in sight. That particular part of the town was always quiet, even at night. That was one of the reasons why he had chosen to live there for years already.

His room was in the second floor, right at the end of the corridor. It was small, dirty and dark, but it didn't really bother him. He only slept there. There were no windows at all and the room smelled heavily of cigarettes.

It was an early morning. Charlie usually woke up together with the sun - despite that he always stayed up late. Sleeping just wasn't for him; he wanted to take full advantage of every moment and get a little more for himself.

_I don't need Nick in this,_ he thought and lifted himself off a chair whose original colour was a mystery to everyone. _I can have a word with Santino without him._

He knew Nick Virago and was aware of that the lawyer was not a morning person. The man was terribly attached to luxury and slow even then when he had decided to do something. Charlie knew that if he waited for Nick nothing would happen before afternoon.

After making sure he had a full package of cigarettes in his pocket he walked out of his room, locking the door. As he started for downstairs he noticed that the door to the next room was slightly open.

The room to his right belonged to Angel, a female beatnik with whom he exchanged a word every now and then. They weren't friends and shared a mutual feeling of suspicion for each other, but it was always worth it to have a word with her if she got up early enough.

The door had probably been left open by one of Angel's nightly visitors or she had just been too tired to close it when returning home. Charlie didn't really care but continued on his way.

He didn't know what kind of man Santino was. Angel had mentioned him a couple of times, but that was it. Despite this Charlie believed he would be able to put his words right; there were very few people he didn't get along with. Not everyone liked him, but that didn't stop them from living in the same place.

There was still fog on the streets as he headed for the upper town. Charlie's thoughts were on the case that he had become involved with.

Who had murdered Margarita and stolen the Martonza papers? Somehow he didn't think Himmel had done it. It felt like the truth wasn't as simple as Nick thought.

Charlie didn't dwell on memories as he went up to the cafe that had once belonged to Manuel Calavera. He had spent a short while in the man's place and though it hadn't been as glamorous as Cat Track, he had enjoyed himself - on some level at least.

After Manny's departure the place had been on sale and a rich newcomer had bought it. He had changed everything and almost literally thrown the roulette tables off the balcony. The face of the place had got a make over and it had become a club for the rich.

The Velvet Cigarette - as the place was called now - wasn't open early in the morning. Charlie didn't let it stop him but walked right in - the door was at least open.

A young woman who was sweeping the floor in the lobby raised her gaze. "We're not open yet," she said and then froze as she realised who had just entered.

"I know. I came to talk with Santino," Charlie said to her. He knew her by name and had met her many times before. She was Lupe, Manny's coat girl who had been able to keep her job even after the owner changed.

"What do you want of him?" Lupe asked in curiosity. She started cleaning again, but looked like she didn't feel like concentrating on her work anymore.

"Nothing special. I just need to talk with him about something. You know me," Charlie purred. Lupe paid no attention to that and it didn't really surprise the con artist. Lupe was one of those women who got along with everyone and he had always liked playing with her. He could remember the way Manny had glared at him every time he had told Lupe something dirty.

"I do," Lupe stated and took a step towards the stairs. "Santino! Someone is asking for you!"

Almost immediately a tall, thick man with wide shoulders appeared. He and Charlie were like night and day.

"What?" Santino asked turning to Charlie. He was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt that wasn't buttoned well and looked like a black jacket should have gone along with it.

"I want to have a word with you," Charlie said. He felt ridiculous, almost breaking his neck as he tried to see Santino's face.

"I have no time. We have work to do before we can open," Santino said and Lupe, who had completely stopped the sweeping, hurried back to work looking almost guilty. She still kept a curious eye socket on them, though.

"Pity. I would have thought that you'd be interested in talking about your fiancée," Charlie said shrugging and lowering his gaze.

"What do you know about Margarita?" Santino asked at once, raising his voice. Charlie didn't look him in the eye sockets again.

"This and that. I would like to talk to you alone," he said. Santino didn't think twice but returned downstairs and gestured Charlie to follow. The con artist did it and took a notice of how much the place really had changed.

Manny's demon friend's piano was still there, but the rest of the room was different. The small tables and chairs were gone and had been replaced by sofas and arm chars that looked like they wanted to swallow everyone who sat on them. The floor was covered by a dark carpet and several tasteless paintings decorated the walls. Charlie didn't even want to know what had happened to the casino.

"Well, what do you know? Tell me everything! Who murdered her?" Santino asked once they were down. Charlie sat on one of the sofas and lit a cigarette. The piece of furniture felt nice, he had to admit that.

"I don't know who to blame," he said as he put the used match in the ash tray on a nearby table. "But I am more than interested in finding out."

"Why? What did she mean to you?" Santino's voice was far from friendly now and Charlie was starting to understand what kind of man he was dealing with.

"Nothing, but a friend of mine is interested," he said.

"And what does he have to do with it? Who is he?"

"Calm down. We are on the same side." Charlie took a relaxed position and blew out a cloud of smoke. Now that he thought about it he realised that the sofa wasn't quite as comfortable as it had first seemed.

Santino drew a deep breath and shook his head a bit, looking like he had trouble controlling himself. "Fine, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"Did Margarita do anything unusual on the dreadful day?" Charlie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Was she nervous or angry? Did she do anything strange? Perhaps she talked about someone?"

"Who could she have talked about?" Santino asked. He clenched his fists but quickly hid them behind his back.

_What a simple fool,_ Charlie thought to himself. "Well, anyone. Did he ever mention Bogan?"

"Who?"

"I take that as no. How about - " the con artist started, but Santino wasn't quite finished with the subject yet.

"Why should Margarita have mentioned some Bogan?" he asked.

"I merely asked, it doesn't mean anything," Charlie stated. He liked Santino less and less with every second. He seemed to be exactly the kind of man who had neither the skill nor the desire to become anything.

"I am not stupid! Who is this Bogan?" Santino was suddenly much closer than Charlie would have preferred, but the con artist didn't show it.

"Calm down now, there is no need to get mad," he said. "Bogan is the police commissioner in Rubacava and I thought that perhaps Margarita had had something to do with him - only officially, of course." He imagined how Santino would react if he ever heard of Bogan and Margarita's true relationship. If the man became that mad when someone only mentioned her in the same sentence with another man...

"Yes, of course... I am sorry." Saying the words aloud was difficult to Santino and he sounded like he was fighting with himself. His shoulders were stiff and he took a step back. "I am just so confused and haven't yet realised that Margarita is gone."

"Oh, I understand," Charlie muttered and moved left when Santino suddenly collapsed to sit next to him.

But his new spot wasn't soft at all and the con artist jumped on his feet. Santino didn't even have time to ask about it before the shorter man had thrown one of the pillows away.

Charlie drew in a breath of smoke and eyed what he had found. "Not the cleverest place to hide a gun, is it?" he asked and Santino could only stare at the sproutella gun that had been hidden under the pillows.

* * *

Nick placed the last file case on the shelf. He had spent the entire morning cleaning his office and had finally managed to organize all the papers he had thrown all over. A nasty job, but one he had had to do.

He glared at the spot where the Martonza papers should have been and turned his back on the shelf. He would have to think about it and have a word with Margarita's boyfriend - both of them, preferably - but not at the moment. First he would have to get some of his real work done.

His intention was to go and lock the door so that no one would bother him, but he didn't get that far. Nick froze and stared at the lock the key in his hand.

How could he have been so stupid?

The lawyer hurried to open the door and peered on the other side. There wasn't a single sign on the lock, not even a scratch.

_So my thief had a key,_ he thought. Now that he thought about it he realised that it wasn't surprising, really. Margarita must have had one in her bag and the murderer could have taken it.

The sound of nearing steps made him lift his gaze. Alberto glanced at him before opening the door to his office and stepping in.

_But it didn't have to be Margarita's key. _

Nick felt like a whole new set of ideas had appeared in his head at once.

Perhaps he had been looking at the mess from the wrong angle? Perhaps no one was trying to hurt Maximino, but it was an attempt at the man's best lawyer? It made sense as Nick was the one who would lose his head if the papers weren't found.

Nick could come up with a great number of souls who would be happy to see him in trouble. Alberto was the first and soon Nick had a whole list of colleagues, competitors, men who he had deceived or betrayed and women who he had left.

Any of them could be the murderer.

**To be continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 6**

Nick and Charlie met in the lawyer's office later that day. It had been the con artist's idea. He had said that he had something to great to tell, and Nick had had no other option but to let him in

"What? This better be important," he said.

"Believe me, Nick, it is," Charlie replied.

"Well?" Nick asked. "What have you been meddling with this morning?"

"Much more than you, I'd assume. I met Santino," Charlie said. He saw how Nick froze for a moment and knew that the lawyer didn't like what he had heard.

"You shouldn't take action without my permission!" Nick snapped.

"When did we agree about that? We are working together, but I am not your employee," the con artist replied. "I thought you would not want to do anything that early in the morning, so I went solo."

Nick took a cigarette from his drawer and lit it. Then he concentrated on smoking it and tapping his fingers on the desk.

"What did you find out?" he asked.

"Santino is not an interesting case. He says he knows nothing and has no idea of Margarita and Bogan's little romance - well, at least he didn't have until I gave him a hint," Charlie said. "Or so he says. Perhaps he is a talented actor under the brutal shell."

"Get to it already. I don't have the whole day to listen to your blabbering," Nick stated. Charlie looked at him like a hurt artist, but kept his voice formally polite.

"I found a gun in The Velvet Cigarette. Someone had hid it under a pillow in a sofa and I happened to sit on it," the con artist said.

"Pity it didn't fire," Nick muttered.

"On such a humorous mood already?" Charlie tilted his head and looked at Nick in a way that was both playful and all knowing at the same time. "The question is, whose is it and why was it there? It can naturally belong to one of the fine members of the club, but I'd think they are intelligent enough to hide theirs somewhere else. But a fool like Santino..."

"So you think Santino somehow got his hands on a gun, found out about Margarita and Bogan and shot her in fit of jealous rage?" Nick asked. "What about the Martonza papers?"

"Easy. Santino must have gone through Margarita's bag and found them. Anyone can see their value and he must have taken them to sell them later," Charlie explained.

"Your theory may work, but nothing proves it right at the moment. Perhaps Santino is innocent and the real murderer just took the gun in the club. Besides, jealous lovers usually take something more personal as a memento," Nick stated. Then he thought of something. "But who knows? We don't know what Margarita was carrying that night. Perhaps something else is missing."

Charlie leaned against a bookshelf. "Do you think we should speak with Bogan?"

"No, you have to speak with him. I will have a word with the owner of The Velvet Cigarette and try to find out something useful. The club is a fine place and he will take me more seriously." The lawyer's voice told of the tiredness he felt toward the whole case.

"I don't know, Nick. Bogan wasn't on such a good mood when he let me go last time," Charlie said.

"Don't be a fool. Just tell him you are with me and you will have no problems. He is nothing but Maximino's dog," Nick stated.

"Whatever you say. It's not my fault if it doesn't work."

* * *

Charlie wasn't sure if he would get anything out of Bogan or not. The two of them naturally didn't get along and he had been in custody more times than he could remember - sometimes merely because Bogan had had a bad day.

"This could very well be the first time I go here voluntarily," he muttered to himself as he climbed the stairs to the police station. He didn't knock but stepped right in.

The station was quiet, as usually. Most of the arrested crooks were let go in the morning and the whole business was more an act than anything serious. Everyone knew that Bogan was in Maximino's pocket, but still attempted to make it seem like he had some power of his own.

Bogan was sitting behind his desk when Charlie entered. The chief was wearing a uniform, but otherwise he looked like he wasn't on duty. He was in a lazy position and a half a bottle of whisky stood on the desk. He lifted his gaze as he heard someone enter and stared at Charlie as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"What are you doing here?" Bogan asked then. He didn't sound tired, only his proud and annoying self, and Charlie suspected that he hadn't drank nearly as much as he had first suspected.

"I came to ask some questions. Nick Virago sent me," the con artist said using his card immediately. He didn't like it there and wanted to get everything over with as soon as possible.

Bogan straightened his back and hid the bottle in his drawer. "What does he want?" he asked sharply.

"Information about Margarita."

An annoyed expression appeared on Bogan's face. "That is none of his business," he snapped.

"Unfortunately it is. Margarita was carrying something quite… important when she was shot and the murderer took it with him," Charlie said. He didn't sit down because then he would have had to bend his neck to be able to look at Bogan.

"What was it?" the chief asked.

"Something important. You don't need to know more."

"Yes I do. The more clues I have the more likely will I find the murderer," Bogan said sounding impatient. He kept both of his hands on the desk.

Charlie tilted his head. "Really? Since when have you started to solve cases?" It was probably not a very good idea to say so, but he couldn't resist it. Bogan was a clown and Charlie felt no respect for him.

Bogan looked at him. "Since when have you been in a position to work for Maximino?" he asked icily.

"You mean he didn't tell you? Oh, in that case I guess you must not be his favourite dog after all," Charlie said with an apologetic shrug.

"No, I have a feeling I am looking at him now. Did you come here to insult me? I have time right now so I could throw you behind the bars for the rest of the day," Bogan said.

Charlie sighed and shook his head. "It's impossible to negotiate with you," he muttered. "Tell me what Margarita had in her bag. It was brought here, right?" he asked.

"It was," Bogan replied quickly. "There was nothing special. I believe I know nothing that could help you with this."

"Really? Surely you can tell something. You and Margarita got along pretty well, didn't you?" the con artists asked and looked at the police chief as slyly as he could.

"That is nothing you need to know about!" Bogan snapped. He pressed his palms against his desk and managed to look really sharp.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. It must be hard to even _think_ about it," Charlie said with mock compassion. "I'll tell Nick you are not ready to help. Hopefully he is as understanding as I am." He turned around and managed to take a couple of steps before Bogan changed his mind.

"Wait! If Mr. Virago really needs my help I will do everything I can to please him," he said clenching his teeth. Charlie just nodded.

"Good," he said. "So what can you tell me?"

"Margarita's body has been taken care of. She was wearing normal clothes and had nothing else on," Bogan said.

"And her bag?"

Bogan considered a moment before he bent down and opened his drawer. He lifted a small suitcase on the desk and opened it. "This is all we found in her case."

Charlie stepped closer to take a look. The suitcase was indeed nothing special. It was brown and filled with all kinds of little stuff. He took a small heap of papers from it and browsed them through.

"Bills and copies of files. Nothing interesting," he said and placed them on the desk. Then he started going through the other items.

To his surprise Charlie found a small mirror, some make-up he knew nothing about, pens, a small bottle of some alcohol, cigarettes, an old magazine, unidentifiable junk, a bracelet and a napkin.

"It's a pity the dead don't have skin," he said as he placed the last item on Bogan's desk. "Otherwise we could get a nice amount of fingerprints from these."

The chief took a pen. "Well, do these help in any way?" he asked sharply, as if challenging Charlie into coming up with something useful.

"If nothing is missing, I don't think this helps at all," the con artist had to admit. From what he saw he came to the conclusion that Margarita had been a very messy person - just like someone he knew - and probably wouldn't have noticed anything missing herself.

Except the Martonza papers, of course.

"As I thought," Bogan replied. Charlie was about to leave again, but then he suddenly thought of something.

"Wait a minute," he muttered and returned to go through the items on the desk. When he didn't find what he was looking for he took the suitcase and shook it to see if he had missed something.

"What are you doing?" Bogan asked. Charlie put the suitcase back.

"Nothing. Just wanted to see if I had overlooked something," he lied quickly. At the same time he congratulated himself.

He knew a little about Maximino's offices and was aware of that one key opened all the doors. Not very sensible perhaps, but Maximino wanted his employees to trust each other at work. Otherwise they could cheat each other as much as they wanted.

Margarita's key was not in her suitcase.

* * *

It was noon when Nick entered The Velvet Cigarette. In his opinion the place had only improved. He had never liked Manny or his ideas the least. The way in which Manny had blackmailed him into helping him had been most embarrassing and he was still sore about it.

"We are closed. Funny how everyone wants to get in early today," Lupe said. She was wiping the counter and gave Nick a sore eye. Very few actually liked the lawyer.

"I know," Nick replied. "I came to see the owner."

"Mr. Henrickson? He is not here. He never comes before we open. Only I and Santino are here in the morning and he is gone now too," the woman said stopping her work.

"When do you open then?" Nick asked.

"When it gets dark. This place looks magnificent at night time." Lupe sighed. "Not as nice as Calavera Cafe, but..."

"I can imagine," the lawyer said dryly. "I will be back later. I do hope your employer is here then."

* * *

Nick returned to The Velvet Cigarette the same evening. He had talked with Charlie about what he had found out in the police station, but none of it had been very interesting.

"The murderer has to be someone outside the office. That is why the key is missing," Charlie had insisted. It looked like he was right. It meant that Alberto was most likely innocent, but Nick was not quite yet ready to believe it.

"Or he wanted us to think so," he had replied. The con artist hadn't clearly thought about it and had spent a quiet moment pondering it.

Nick had decided that he would not think about the key that night. He would concentrate on finding out something about the customers in The Velvet Cigarette and the gun that had been found there.

The club looked different from what it had been like earlier. A few bright lamps lit the entrance and an unfamiliar woman stood behind the counter. Nick wasn't wearing an overcoat, but he walked to her anyway.

"Yes, how can I help you?" she asked him and tried to look as ready to serve as possible.

"I want to speak with the owner," Nick said. The girl pointed at the stairs down.

"Mr. Henrickson has joined the members already," she said.

Nick thanked shortly and headed down. Everything was dim and blue and reminded him of Blue Casket. The light, the feeling… He shook the thought away and looked at the people present.

There were four men sitting in soft armchairs and sofas. Nick recalled that he had seen each of them in Cat Track every now and then. One of the men - he was sturdy, short man dressed in black - had a slim woman in a short dress in his arms.

The air smelled strongly of cigarettes and almost everyone in the room had one in their mouths. The man with the woman also had an almost full glass of something. Nick suspected that the man was Henrickson himself.

"Yes? You are not a member of our club," Henrickson said and with great difficulties he managed to sit straighter. The woman leaned against him and shot a playful glance at Nick. Unfortunately the lawyer was not on the mood for games that night.

"I came to see Mr. Henrickson. It's very important," he said.

"What is it?"

"I would prefer talking about it in private," Nick said and nodded at the other men. They sat in the shadows smoking their cigarettes and looking more like statues than real people.

"I am busy right now," Henrickson said lazily.

"I can see that," Nick said as the man kissed the neck of his woman. She bent it and whispered something in the club owner's ear hole. "I recommend you to re-consider your answer, Mr. Henrickson. You are not yet powerful enough to say no to Maximino."

This caused a much more desirable reaction. Henrickson flinched and managed to separate himself from his chair.

"You are Maximino's man? You should have said that earlier!" he said and placed his glass on a table. "I'll be back soon, men," he said leaving his spot. The woman stayed there to keep the chair warm and Nick followed Henrickson upstairs.

He had never before been in the uppermost part of the building. Neither the Manny nor the owner before him had liked him enough to take him there - not that he had minded at all.

Henrickson walked behind his desk and lit a lamp. It brought light to the entire room that was furnished with the same blue as everything else - though there was more black here.

"Well, what kind of business is this about?" Henrickson asked. He didn't offer Nick a chair.

"Very simple. You may have information that my employer is very interested in," the lawyer said and took a chair for himself.

"Information?" Henrickson looked disappointed. "Such as?"

"How many members are there in your club and what are they like?" Nick asked. Henrickson looked like a man who would do and say anything for money, so he didn't think he'd be facing a difficult conversation.

"Ah, I assume that Maximino is interested in membership and wants to see the quality of my club, right?" Henrickson asked. Nick said nothing but let the man believe that way. In the end it would prove much more useful. "I can assure you Mr... yes, Virago, that my club is the finest in Rubacava. All members are successful businessmen from here and Nuevo Marrow."

Henrickson listed a couple of names of which only few were familiar to Nick. None of them interested him in any way and nothing proved that any of the members had anything to do with the murder. On the other hand, they were businessmen...

"Do the rules allow guns inside?" he asked. Henrickson looked surprised and straightened in his chair.

"Well, we haven't had any problems. All members get along and even if they did have disagreements, they won't solve them here. This place is for relaxing," he said.

"But if someone wanted to bring a gun, would there be anything or anyone to stop it?"

"Mr. Virago, you amuse me. Naturally we don't check everyone on the door! So yes, someone could bring a gun here."

The next half an hour was spent with Henrickson praising his club and describing its good sides. It was harder and harder for Nick to sit still and listen to the man's boring blabbering, so he was very relieved when he finally told them to return downstairs.

"I will show you how we relax here," he promised. Nick agreed, perhaps he'd be lucky and able to have a word or two with some of the members. The gun Charlie had found had to belong to one of them, so someone had to know something.

According to the con artist Santino had taken the gun after recovering from the surprise and had promised to make sure that the owner would get it the same evening.

Henrickson returned to his place where his woman was still waiting for him. All of the previous men were still present. Nick waited for a while if Henrickson would do something, like introduce him to the others, but the man had no such plans. He looked like he had completely forgotten that he had been about to show his club to the guest.

Nick sat in one of the dimmest corners where two chairs stood. Someone was already there, but the lawyer couldn't see his features well in the faint light. What he did see though was that it was an elderly gentleman dressed in a grey suit.

"You are Maximino's lawyer, aren't you?" the man asked almost immediately after Nick had sat down. He had a hoarse voice and he spoke with a cigarette in his mouth.

"I am. I'm seeing the club for him," Nick replied. The man nodded.

"I see. A man like him naturally doesn't bother to do it himself." He was silent for a while. "Well, what do you think?"

"I haven't seen much yet," Nick stated. He took a cigarette from his pocket as he spoke with the man. He had a faint memory of his name being Lopez. He was seen in Cat Track every now and then.

"To be honest, there isn't much to see. This is a small club," Lopez replied. "Not that it matters. I like these small communities."

"Do all members get along?" Nick asked. Lopez chuckled lightly and nodded at the other side of the room where two men were sitting. One of them was having a quiet conversation with Henrickson, but the other sat still in silence.

"The quiet one is Mantegna and the other is Wallach. They are both wholesalers and compete with each other constantly. They don't talk to each other here, but otherwise their relationship can be described quite fiery."

Nick looked at the men for a while. "What do you think, are they able to attempt killing each other?" he asked then. Lopez looked at him with a curious expression.

"Perhaps," he said after a moment of consideration. "Why do you ask?"

"I am merely interested. I heard a gun was found here today. Maximino has a clear policy about things like that," Nick said.

"A gun?" Now Lopez sounded very surprised. "I had no idea! Where was it?"

Nick quickly explained everything that Charlie had told him. Lopez listened carefully and blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Interesting. I can see why Maximino is worried about that," he said. "However, I don't think that anything serious is behind it. The gun must belong to Henrickson. He likes to play a tough boy every now and then. That would also explain why it was found here."

"Perhaps," Nick admitted. Or perhaps the gun belonged to Santino who had somehow got his hands on one. Things had changed in Rubacava and the owner of every gun was no longer known by them. It was an annoying fact to admit.

* * *

Nick stayed in The Velvet Cigarette almost until midnight talking with the members, having a couple of cigarettes and thinking about things. He found out that none of the members knew a thing about the gun - or at least they didn't admit it if they did. Wallach had given him a bit too curious glance when he had asked about it, though.

"Perhaps someone hid it here to get rid of him," he had said and nodded at Mantegna.

He had learned to know the club well and had to admit that it was in fact quite an interesting community. The owner would have to change before he'd be interested in membership, though.

The night was cool and he wished that he had an overcoat on him. He slipped his hands in his pockets and tried to hurry home as fast as possible. The whole Martonza case was really starting to bore him.

Suddenly he stopped when he realised that he was nearing Blue Casket. He hadn't used to think twice about it when he had walked past it in the past, but now that he no longer had business inside it looked quite fascinating.

The door was open and blue light poured on the street. When he glanced at the window upstairs Nick could see that there was light. Either Olivia had got bored with amateurish poets or she had a visitor.

His money was on the last option. A tall man stood in the shadows next to the door. Olivia's boyfriend had to be careful when meeting the woman in Maximino's town - a guard at the door to the club was a necessity.

Hoping that the romantic duo would get caught Nick turned his back and went home.

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 7**

The following morning was the third after Margarita's murder and Nick knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid Maximino anymore. So, the first thing he did in the morning was to march to the man's office.

"Nick," his employer greeted him, cheerful despite the early hours. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"I have been busy," Nick admitted. "There has been slight trouble with the Martonza case."

Maximino looked at him in surprise, perhaps even worry. "Really? Wasn't everything supposed to be clear? What has gone wrong?" he wanted to know.

"Martonza has started to demand a better deal. He is no longer pleased with being allowed to use our docks but wants guards for his men as well," Nick said. He watched how an annoyed expression appeared on Maximino's face.

"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?" he asked.

"I thought I would get it taken care of myself. There is no need to worry; everything will soon be in order. I only came to announce that everything may take a while longer than was originally planned," the lawyer replied.

"Pity," Maximino sighed. "This is very important for us. Without this deal we will have a very bad year."

Nick couldn't help agreeing. Even though everyone was doing their best Maximino's business became smaller every month. And one didn't have to look for the reason too long. The reformed city of Nuevo Marrow stood only a day's trip west and sucked everything possible out of Rubacava.

"I will take care of this as soon as possible," he promised.

"Do that. I have other things in my mind," Maximino said. From the man's voice Nick knew that he still wanted to talk with him about something and so he waited. Maximino stood a while in silence looking thoughtful.

"Is there something you want me to do?" Nick asked and Maximino was startled.

"What? No, I don't think you can do anything. It's Olivia," the man said as if he had just been woken from a dream.

_It won't take too long before those two are history,_ Nick thought dryly. Somehow he had imagined that Olivia would first break up with Maximino and then with him.

"Has something happened?" he asked, as if he was a truly caring friend.

"I don't know what is wrong with her. She has been avoiding me. Yesterday evening when she was here she was very quiet and rude and left early. It was the first time I had seen her this entire week. She is never feeling well anymore," Maximino said sounding a little sad.

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. She is a woman," Nick stated. In his mind he gave the couple a week or two. After that Olivia would do something radical and end the whole play. It would be interesting and perhaps even worrying to see how Maximino would react to it.

"Perhaps. I hope she isn't mad at me."

"If she is, she will snap out of it soon."

"Perhaps I should buy her something new?"

"That could work."

Nick exchanged a couple of more words with Maximino before leaving the man alone. The first thing he did after that was sending a telegram to Martonza, telling that there had turned out to be some problems with the contract and that the papers would arrive late. He only had five days left before everything should have been ready and he wouldn't have the time to send the papers, even if he found them. So the best thing to do was informing everyone that things were going to run late - very late, in fact.

After taking care of that Nick returned to his own office. He thought about all that had happened the previous day and whether it would help him at all. Charlie's words of someone taking Margarita's key circled in his head and he couldn't decide if the murderer was someone outside the office or someone who wanted to trick them.

"Oof!"

His thoughts were interruped when he suddenly collided with someone. That someone dropped his case and it opened with papers spreading everywhere.

"Watch where you are going!" Alberto's familiar voice snapped and Nick only growled at the man. He didn't bend down to help the other lawyer with collecting his papers but watched in half interest how he put everything back in his case and rushed away, muttering something to himself. It was obvious he was in a hurry.

Nick was about to go on as well, but then he noticed Alberto had forgotten something. A small piece of paper had flown farther away from the others and Alberto hadn't noticed it. Being somewhat curious, Nick picked it up.

"At pier 3 at midnight. -H," he read to himself. The text was written with curly handwriting that he had never seen before.

Nick slipped the paper in his pocket, curious about Alberto's doings for the first time during his afterlife. Who was the man supposed to meet? And why? He decided he would go there and see the meeting himself, but first he'd get some other things done.

He had thought of something that hadn't occurred to him before. There was one soul in Rubacava who probably hated him more than anyone else and it was possible that this particular person was behind everything.

Toto Santos.

The man had almost been a friend of Manny's and the ex-inhabitant of the city had known about Lola. Nick wouldn't have been surprised if Manny had told about the incident to Toto before leaving town. And since the shady artist happened to be of the scum of Rubacava - who Nick despised more than anything - it was unfortunately time to turn to Chowchilla Charlie again.

* * *

Charlie was sipping his coffee when Angel stumbled downstairs looking tired. It was really an advantage that she had no hair because it would have looked awful in that state.

"Morning," she muttered as she fell on the chair opposite Charlie.

"Morning, dear," the con artist replied smoothly and returned to having turns between coffee and his cigarette. "Had a late night again, eh?"

Angel nodded with a yawn. "Did you hear us?" she asked. Charlie shook his head.

"Unfortunately not, the wall is too thick. However, I heard how he left doors banging a couple of hours ago," he said with a disappointed sigh.

"Don't worry, I will try to find someone louder next time."

It was rather late. Charlie didn't usually loiter around in the small lobby at that time, but he didn't really have anything better to do that morning. Despite that he had helped Nick a lot he had not yet received anything in return. It was starting to get on his nerves.

Knowing Nick, the man was only trying to use him but Charlie had no intention of being tricked. He would get something out of this.

"Any chance of getting a female next time?" he asked Angel who almost choked in her coffee and then stared at him in disgust.

"You make me sick!" she snapped and leaned back in her chair, lifting her left leg on the right.

Angel was quite a tall woman who always dressed in black and spent her time in Blue Casket. At times she almost reminded Charlie of Olivia Ofrenda, but Angel completely lacked the style, grace and intelligence of the other woman. She wasn't a fascinating seducer but an easy catch that anyone could get their hands on.

She couldn't even write poems, which Charlie had personally learned one morning when the woman had wanted to show her so called talent.

The con artist was just about to stand up and find something to do, but right then Nick came banging in, looking like he was in a very bad mood.

"Do you realise how much I wasted my time trying to find this shack?" the lawyer asked angrily and took the free chair next to Charlie.

"You could have asked me for the address if you wanted to meet me so hard," he stated, a little annoyed about that Nick had found the way to the only place he didn't like sharing with just anyone.

"Back then I didn't know I would have to sink this low," Nick said. "I need to talk with you."

"Hey, I know you! I have seen you many times in Blue Casket!" Angel exclaimed suddenly drawing Nick's attention to herself. The lawyer stared at her as if he had never seen her before. Charlie suspected the lawyer was so damn arrogant that didn't even see the beatniks as real people.

"Really?" Nick asked sounding like it didn't matter the least.

"Yes! You are Nick Virago, the guy who visits Olivia so often. I haven't seen you around lately, though. Not that she seems to miss you," Angel explained and took a sip of her coffee. "Just thought I'd tell."

Nick paid no attention to the comment, but Charlie could sense the man's mood getting darker. "What were you about to say?" he asked to change the subject.

"I thought about something that could make sense. You know that small crook at the docks? Toto Santos?" Nick asked. Charlie nodded and gestured the lawyer to go on. He glanced at Angel, clearly to tell that he wouldn't say another thing as long as the woman was around.

"We better go somewhere else to talk," the con artist suggested. They stood up and were about to leave, but Angel had something else to say to them.

"Hey, Virago!" she said. "You should come back to Blue Casket. Now that you don't visit her every night Olivia has more time for her club. I don't know why, but when she is around I have hard time finding a date. It would be great if something made Olivia disappear again every now and then."

"Really?" Nick asked dryly.

"Yes. Like a couple of nights ago, when that woman was murdered. Olivia spent almost the entire night with Maximino and I got really lucky!" Angel explained. She finished drinking her coffee and stood up to return to her room.

"I don't have time to listen to that," Nick muttered in annoyance when he led Charlie out.

"I actually like her. She is a much better neighbour than the man who lived next to me before her," the con artist stated.

"Whatever, I am not interested the least. Now tell me what you know about Santos," Nick said and Charlie sighed to himself.

"Have you already told Maximino that it would be the best for everyone if I was allowed back to the Cat Track?" he asked. Nick looked at him with an impatient expression on his face.

"Not yet, but I will. Once you have accomplished something useful," the lawyer stated.

"So what I have done so far has been worth nothing?" Charlie asked. Nick was a real bastard. If things got worse the man wouldn't do a thing for him but forget the entire deal.

In fact, he was quite sure that would happen.

"I don't like this Nick. I have done a lot for you - I even talked to Bogan - and I haven't got a thing from you. My patience doesn't last forever," he warned.

Nick stood his hands in his pockets and watched Charlie coldly. The man looked so negligent that Charlie felt rare rage inside him. Who did Nick think he was?

"Everything will be taken care of in time. Tell me what you know about Santos and his possible involvement in this," Nick demanded.

"If you want my opinion, I think Toto is innocent. He rages and curses at everyone but is the kind of man who never gets anything done. Why do you think he has lived in that garbage for years? No matter how much he hates you, he won't do a thing about you. Many think that's a pity, actually," Charlie snapped.

"I see."

"'I see'? Don't you have anything else to say?"

The lawyer took his hands from his pockets and shrugged. "Not really. I have a new lead that I will follow today. I doubt I need you," he stated, turned around and left the very irritated con artist behind.

"That's it," Charlie muttered to himself.

* * *

When he returned to his office, Nick couldn't help thinking that he had over-looked something.

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

**THE MARTONZA CASE **

**Chapter 8**

It was the fourth night since Margarita's murder. Nick had wasted half of the time he had, but it wasn't really making him nervous. He still had some time to find the guilty perhaps it would happen this very night.

This time he had prepared for the cool night and wore a dark coat. It reached his knees and he thought that if he had had a hat he might have looked a little like the actor who had started to get popular around the time he had died.

The night was clear and he had no trouble seeing where he was going. He still couldn't hurry as he would have liked, because he didn't know the docks and was afraid of causing too much noise by rushing wherever his feet were taking him.

He took Alberto's note from his pocket. At pier 3 at midnight. Nick didn't usually have a watch on him, but this time he had bothered to bring along a real pocket watch a bribe he had once received from some miserable soul. It ticked loudly and told him that there was still good ten minutes before midnight.

Nick arrived at the right pier within a few minutes. The place was completely deserted and if waves hadn't licked the pier, everything would have been quiet. Nick had been afraid of not getting close enough to hear the conversation between Alberto and the mysterious H, but thankfully a small boat was tied to the pier. It was covered by old blankets and the lawyer quickly dove under them.

He was quite curious to find out what Alberto was up to. Whatever it was, it couldn't be meant for Maximino's ears. The mere thought of soon having a weapon against his hated colleague brought Nick in a good mood.

When a few minutes had passed, he heard steps. Nick didn't dare to lift the blankets to see who was coming, but concentrated entirely on listening. He felt excited. Spying on someone in the middle of the night and getting dirty was not like him at all. Had he known someone trustworthy he would have sent him to do the work.

It didn't take long before a new pair of steps was heard. Two actually, as he noted when they got closer. He guessed the first person to come had been Alberto.

"Do you have what we agreed on?" a voice asked. It sounded familiar to Nick and he hoped he could have seen the talker. Surely he had seen him somewhere recently!

"Everything is here," Alberto replied. There was a soft click when a suitcase was opened. It was followed by a silence of a minute or two, and Nick suspected the other person was going through whatever was in the case. Oh, if he only could have taken one look at what was going on. He didn't dare to even more to avoid rocking the boat.

Thankfully the owner of the familiar voice became more than clear only seconds later.

"Excellent work," was said and it was followed by several phrases of German that Nick understood nothing about.

"Thank you. It has been a pleasure working for you, Mr. Himmel," Alberto said. The hiding lawyer was startled and scolded himself for not recognising the German's voice sooner. He had spoken with him only two days earlier!

"But it is a pity that you weren't able to bring the Martonza papers for me," Himmel said and Nick had trouble holding still. Had he been right? Had Alberto really had something to do with the murder? And Himmel? Nick had been almost sure of the man's innocence.

"True," Alberto said, sounding annoyed. "Whoever killed her was faster than us."

What? What was going on now? Someone else was stealing from Maximino as well? How many conspiracies were there against the man?

"I would pay to know who that crook was. Virago stopped by to ask me about it. I don't think he knows the guilty party either. I only hope this newcomer doesn't start competing with us," he heard Himmel say.

Alberto exchanged a couple of more words with the German before he and the third man accompanying him Nick guessed him to be a bodyguard left. A few minutes later he heard Alberto go too.

Nick waited for several more minutes before climbing out of the boat. The pier was completely deserted and he could hear nothing. He didn't stay there, but headed straight home. His steps were loud against the road and he wanted nothing more than to get out of there.

He had a lot to think about.

* * *

Nick slammed the door to his apartment shut and fell in a heap on his arm chair. He didn't bother to take his coat off or move the old newspapers away.

He didn't know what he had expected to find out that night, but he didn't feel very surprised. Alberto had never shown any signs of selling information to anyone, but it was something Nick could have easily thought of the man.

It was a pity he hadn't solved the Martonza case yet. He was now sure that Alberto and Himmel were innocent. So who was left?

Santino was an option and Nick didn't want to give up on Toto either, even though Charlie had been sure that the man had nothing to do with the mess. He also had to take some of Maximino's lesser enemies into count, but they were the scum of Rubacava. Nick didn't honestly think they had the courage to do anything.

So who could be the murderer? Where were the Martonza papers?

* * *

The next morning Nick faced another surprise this one being much more shocking and it made him froze for a couple of seconds.

He had spent most of the night on the chair and trying to come up with a solution. Early in the morning he had slept an hour or two, but he still felt tired enough to be able to sleep an entire week.

He had to admit that he hadn't got that much rest lately. Who could have blamed him?

When he arrived at work an hour late the first thing he did was to make sure if Alberto was there. And he was. The man stood talking to a nice looking secretary and didn't even glance at Nick when the lawyer walked past.

Nick would have liked to wish good morning to the man, but stopped himself. Who knew how suspicious Alberto would have got because of such a friendly gesture even if it was meant as an insult. So Nick headed towards his office, his intention being to concentrate on some light work and form a new plan.

However, he was stopped before he got that far.

"Mr. Virago, this arrived this morning," a small woman with a high pitched voice said and handed him a piece of paper. Nick barely looked at her as he took it, but he guessed she was the new woman who had come to replace Margarita on the previous day.

He growled a thank you and continued to his office. He didn't read the paper until he had safely closed the door behind himself. And then he hoped he had never found out what the paper said.

_Mr. Virago,_

_I am surprised that you contact me like this. I don't know what has happened over there, but everything is well here. A very fine gentleman contacted me a few days ago and told me that Maximino would not be able to keep his part of our deal. So I took the liberty to do business with the man I mentioned. He was most generous and I no longer feel the need to buy Maximino's services._

_Yours, Emmanuel Martonza_

Nick read the letter more than once to convince himself that the lines actually said what he thought. Shaking with anger he ripped the paper apart and threw the pieces away as he walked to sit behind his desk.

"A fine gentleman indeed..." he muttered to himself. At least he knew that the one behind it all was a man. Someone who had now finished his plan and stolen the Martonza case.

For a moment he considered writing back to Puerto Zapato and asking who Martonza's new comrade was. It would be no use though, that deal was lost to them. Now he could only walk to Maximino and tell him everything Nick believed he could twitch things around so that he couldn't be blamed or pack his bags and get lost before anyone noticed anything.

Now he would have to come up with what to do next. The only sensible option was going to Maximino, of course. His employer would learn the truth sooner or later anyway.

But Nick didn't like that particular option. He knew that Maximino wouldn't be pleased with that he hadn't been told at once about the fate of the Martonza papers. Doing that in the beginning would have been the wisest thing to do, but pride had stopped Nick from admitting that something was wrong.

What else could he do? Leave the town in silence and move to Puerto Zapato or even farther away? Nick almost laughed aloud at the stupidity of it. He could imagine how the entire town would react to a trick like that. Maximino would be disappointed and insulted, most of the people happy to see him go and Olivia... she would laugh like no tomorrow and talk about how he had had to flee like a dog.

He felt sudden hatred for the woman. He thought about how she, at that very moment, could be planning her afterlife with her new boyfriend or even worse writing dark poetry about pain and coldness. It was so infuriating and yet it fascinated him.

And suddenly he felt like he had been hit by a thunderbolt. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?

Now Nick knew what had made him feel so restless after talking with Charlie on the previous day. His mind had tried to tell him that the solution to the mystery had been revealed to him he had just been too ignorant to listen!

"Maximino said he has seen Olivia only once during the week the day before yesterday and yet Angel claimed she was visiting him the night Margarita was murdered," he muttered to himself. Maximino wouldn't have lied so if Olivia hadn't been with him or in Blue Casket, where then?

He had a feeling he knew exactly with whom Martonza had made his deal. He just didn't want to think about it. He felt oddly defeated and very angry; there was nothing he could do. Maximino would never hear a bad word about his love. And even if he did there was nothing they could do to improve the situation.

_No,_ he thought in a sudden fit of determination. _I won't give up that easily._ He would at least have to see the proof. Before that he wouldn't say or do anything else.

Nick formed a working plan quickly. He'd break into Blue Casket late at night when the club was already closed and go through Olivia's belongings. She would most likely spend the night with Maximino; perhaps it would even be the last together for the couple. The lawyer would have enough time to find out the details of the case.

He'd also get Charlie to help. The little man could keep guard and make sure nothing went wrong.

* * *

"Are you insane, Nick? You can't break into Blue Casket like that!" Charlie snapped after hearing the lawyer's daring plan. "What if you are caught? Maximino will break your bones and that's nothing compared to what Olivia will do."

"I won't, when you are there," Nick stated. After seeing Charlie's suspicious glare he could only growl angrily. He was in a tight mood and had no patience for fools or non-believers.

"I don't like this. I think that what you are about to do is a big mistake," the con artist said.

"Then it is. You shouldn't care," Nick pointed out.

"But I do. I have wasted an almost entire week helping you and I haven't got anything in return yet. I am starting to get impatient," Charlie said and the lawyer remembered the conversation they had had on the previous day. Charlie had been really mad and he had to admit that he was surprised that the little man had bothered to listen to him this time.

He searched his pockets until he found a handful of old coins.

"Here. Have some in advance," he snapped and offered the money to Charlie who in return looked at him in contempt.

"Now I am insulted," he said and didn't make a move to take the money. Nick put them back with a shrug.

"Are you with me, then?" he asked. The con artist considered it and looked like he was thinking about something really hard. Then, to Nick's slight surprise, he nodded.

"Why not? Better finish this," he said.

And so the duo crept near Blue Casket at the end of the night. The club was dark now, the last of the beatniks had left and no one was in the building. Nick had seen Olivia and Maximino together that night so didn't fear or hope meeting her.

"Stay here and keep guard. If someone comes, fire your gun or give me another warning," he said to Charlie and pushed the man deeper into shadows.

"You do realise that it will reveal me and I will be in danger myself?" the con artist asked.

"Then come up with something that pleases you better!" Nick snapped. He didn't like doing this and would have preferred going home and forgetting the entire thing, but now he wouldn't turn back. Firstly, it would be embarrassing in front of Charlie and he had to know if he had guessed right.

After making sure that Charlie really knew what to do, Nick stepped into the dark Blue Casket. When Olivia had got a hold of the club the first thing she had done was getting rid of the door. Nick and Maximino had told her that it was a financial suicide in a place like Rubacava, but she had been stubborn. She had said that no one wanted to steal anything from her.

Now he was thankful for her sometimes ridiculous stubbornness. He didn't have to feel his way inside because he knew the club as well as his own pockets. In fact, he surprised himself by remembering exactly where the tables where and how to avoid crashing into the stage. He hadn't thought he had ever paid that much attention to the furniture. His thoughts had been way somewhere else.

When he had got to the other end of the club, the easy part was over. Olivia was too trusting when it came to her club, but she always locked the door to her private chambers when she wasn't there. Nick knelt and felt the wall until he found the almost invisible hole where Olivia had used to hide a key for him. The lawyer didn't know if there was anything anymore and so he felt relieved when he felt a small metal key in his fingers.

Apparently Olivia used the same place when she left a key for her new boyfriend. Nick wasn't surprised.

He opened the door, slipped inside closing it and turned the light on. He had done the same so many times that he didn't even have to think about it. He pushed the desire to stay and look at the room out of his mind.

Right next to the door was a small desk and he started going through the drawers. They were filled with papers with poems, aphorisms and such. They didn't interest Nick so he put them aside. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he believed he would recognise it if he saw something.

The next drawer was also full of papers and he didn't even bother glancing at them. He turned to the next one, only to find out that it was empty. With an angry sigh he slammed it shut and turned his attention to the desk.

Nothing special on it; only an ashtray, some book and an empty glass.

"If she had any proof here, where would she put it?" he asked himself. He was starting to feel ridiculous. Olivia wasn't stupid and probably wouldn't keep the Martonza papers or the murder weapon at her home.

He walked to the paper bin next and knelt to give it a look. It was half empty and he didn't find anything interesting.

Suddenly he heard the door open.

"Charlie?" he asked, not turning to look. That cursed, impatient little

"No, it's me," Olivia's soft voice said and Nick whirled around. What was she doing there? Why hadn't Charlie warned him?

"You were supposed to be with Maximino this night," he said darkly and stood up. Olivia only snorted and placed her hand on her hip.

"With him? When something exciting is happening here? Come on, Nick," she said. Then she tilted her head. "And may I ask what you are doing here?"

"I need to know something," Nick said.

"Well, ask away. I have nothing to hide."

"Did you have anything to do with Margarita's death and the disappearance of the Martonza papers?"

The lawyer expected her to laugh at him and say that it was not like her to get involved with Maximino's business, or ask him what he was talking about. However, she merely shrugged. "And if I had?"

That was quite enough for Nick.

"I wouldn't have thought of you," he said with an almost despising voice. "Hector LeMans has had a bad influence on you."

"Why do you care about what I do? He wanted to have a new nail in Maximino's coffin and I wanted money!" Olivia snapped sharply. Perhaps a little too sharply, but Nick didn't bother to think about it.

"So I was right. You killed her and gave the papers to your boyfriend. I must take my hat off to Hector. It was about time someone tamed you," he said. The expression on Olivia's face turned dangerously angry.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand. Get out!"

Nick had no reason to disobey so he walked past the woman to the club. He stopped again there.

"What happened to Charlie?" he asked. Olivia snorted dryly.

"He must be packing his bags," she said.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know? He is moving to Nuevo Marrow. He said he might find some respect there."

Now the lawyer realised why he hadn't got a warning and how Olivia had known to come. Charlie had probably warned her beforehand and run off the moment Nick had stepped inside the club. He felt angry, but mostly at himself. It had been stupid to trust that dog.

As he stood there he realised that the entire thing was over now. He knew what had happened and why. The outcome didn't actually surprise him and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. He should have realised that Hector LeMans was in everything.

"It will be difficult to explain this to Maximino..." he muttered as he started leaving. Olivia had turned on the light earlier and the club bathed in familiar blue.

"I don't think he cares at the moment," she said and Nick stopped.

"So you left him," he stated. Olivia said nothing, but disappeared in her room, closing the door after her. The smile on her face was the last thing Nick ever saw of her.

He thought about it as he walked home. Charlie had left the dying Rubacava.

Perhaps he should too.

**The End**


End file.
